


Read My Mind, Take My Heart

by oinkjungjung



Series: Read My Mind [1]
Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oinkjungjung/pseuds/oinkjungjung
Summary: When Xukun discovers that the world wasn’t quite what he knew it to be, he’s going to stop at nothing while trying to turn his life around.aka part one in the three part series of zhengkun: the star-crosssed lovers
Relationships: Cai Xukun/Zhu Zhengting | Jung Jung
Series: Read My Mind [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667749
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

It was a land of ever winter, the tiny specks of snow falling down never seemed to cease, piling in a heap on the ground only to rain down into the trenches which were their only source of light and warmth.

It was always the warmest by those trenches, and the further you were from them, the higher you went, the colder it gets. This must be why all the houses were clustered around those magical, light emitting trenches, you can get everything you need there, or at least that is where you are the most likely to.

Crops only grow within a couple square meters from the edge of the trenches, they would either freeze or die of lack of light otherwise.

When the pile of snow melts under the only source of heat readily available, they cascade down the sides. The beautiful fall of water, coupled with the light refracted through them, formed countless little arches of colours as the rainbows descended down the trench until they were so far out of reach you could no longer see them.

Life around the trenches were about as lively as it can get, and what that entailed was basically the few kids living within the vicinity running around in a game of catch. Life was simple, you are born, you stay where you are born and you live the rest of your life where you were born.

Every day was basically the same, and everyone was basically the same. You grow up in your family home, you farm in your family garden aka trench, you die in there. No one ever moves, there was no where to go. Beyond the cluster of homes were vast lands of white, extending so far out you could never see the end of it.

Or at least that was what everyone was told. No one ever tried to leave, even if they did, they never got far. The way the temperature drops drastically once you venture out deterred everyone who attempted, thus locking them into these scripted lives of theirs.

While many have long accepted their fates, not everyone was satisfied with this unchanging days. Xukun didn’t know when did he grow tired of this routine life, but he reckoned it maybe when he woke up to his neighbour singing while planting for ten years straight without fail, never missing a single chance to show off his vocals to the entire cluster of families.

Maybe it was when he realised he was going to be surrounded by the same fifty faces for the rest of his life and knowing that he was going to be made to marry one of those three girls that were around his age.

Or it was when he found out that not a single person around knew how to build a house because all those around had been passed down the families for centuries. Well there goes his dream of moving out to live on his own some day, all because there wouldn’t even be a house to live in.

As unhappy as he was, Xukun was indeed about to give in to his fate, then cries of the newborn baby girl flooded out of his neighbour’s doors. For some reason, the first thought that occurred in Xukun’s head when he heard that was how this little one is going to be competing with her father in his morning singing sessions now.

Drifting one eye to his neighbour’s house, he noticed the crowd forming at the doors, as expected. There’s just so little happening in their lives so of course everyone had to go and make a huge deal about their neighbour’s new baby. Predictable.

Then, amongst the crowd, someone entirely unfamiliar walked out. Now that’s suspicious. There were only that many people around, there was no way there was someone that Xukun couldn’t recognise, which meant that this person must have came from somewhere else. 

Somewhere else…

Somewhere else…

As though it was in his very instincts, Xukun got up and followed, because if it was indeed possible to come from some other place, then he too can travel to wherever that was.

Wordlessly, Xukun followed the unfamiliar man away from the crowd, that was apparently so immersed in celebrating the baby, they couldn’t even see the man passing by right before their eyes. But to be fair, Xukun doubt he would have been suspicious of the stranger if not for the seemingly unique circumstances they were in, the guy looked undeniably friendly. 

As the stranger turned into a corner, Xukun quickened his footsteps, not wanting to lose the newcomer. But when he too turned the corner, the man was no where to be seen. All that was left behind was a thick, brown coat lying helplessly in the snow.

At this point, anyone else would probably have left, attributing what had happened to mere imagination, but not Xukun. Fishing the coat out right as it was about to be fully buried in the snow that was falling, he knew he was by no means dreaming, for that coat was the exact one the stranger had been wearing.

So with the coat in his hands, Xukun stayed. Wandering around this quiet little alley that no one really visited as hours and hours flew by. What was he expecting to get out of this, Xukun was not sure. For all he knew, the guy may have been long gone now. But this coat was the only clue he had left, and he wasn’t going to let go of it just like that.

When the day was finally drawing to a close, Xukun’s eyelids threatening to fall as he continued to lean against the cold, hard walls, something finally happened. 

It started out as a small beam of light seemingly appearing out of thin air. And then it grew, exposing a totally different landscape as it expanded. Unlike how dark and cold it was here, the scenery that was appearing was bright. Greenery that could only be found by the trenches covered the entire scene, the lovely shades of emerald twinkled under the light as though basking in its glow.

In front of all that green, stood a figure who Xukun suspected to be the man from before based on his similar petite stature. Since the man’s face was still unexposed, Xukun decided to drop the coat right where he stood and ran to hide at the next turn of the path. Xukun reckoned that if he couldn’t see the man’s face, then the man couldn’t have seen him there.

Tucking himself into the edge of the nearest house, Xukun held his breath, waiting anxiously for the man to pass. Little did he know that with the distance he had been from the bright trenches, coupled with the sudden lack of light the stranger was getting, practically rendered Xukun invisible in the former’s eyes. He could have just stood there and there was a chance he still wouldn’t have been found.

That night, when Xukun finally collasped back into bed, he found that he had more questions than answers after his little discovery. But what he did know though, was that this world wasn’t quite what he thought it was, and he was going to solve this mystery.

For the following days, weeks and months to come, Xukun found himself sinking into this mystery deeper as the days went by. He found himself at the doors of the ancient library that was basically abandoned at this point. Xukun had always heard of this place since young, the setting for another one of those ancient folk tales that had been passed down for generations. But he never once expected that he would one day seek out this place willingly, the fear of the monsters hiding in there as told by those stories lingering in him.

The first time he braced himself as he pushed open the heavy stone doors, he had found himself struggling to do so. For a moment, Xukun had thought it was as the stories said, a giant white stag guarding the entrance to the sacred tree. Because yes, the library was located in the trunk of the biggest tree around, with its spanning miles wide. But as he soon found out, it was merely the the freezing snow that had held the door securely in its place.

Venturing into the setting of his childhood nightmares, Xukun found himself in the vast maze of a library. It was magnificent, it was obviously unattended, but the obvious lack of stags and nymphs suggested that the library couldn’t have been more normal.

Having gotten over the fear rather anticlimatically, Xukun dived head into his quest. Going through books after books trying to find anything that was explain whatever he had seen.

The days he didn’t spending burying himself in books, Xukun spent them trying to locate the stranger from before. But he never did see him again…

_“Our world never moved, sending half of us to doom.  
The lights never went out for some, the snow never did stop for some.  
But aren’t we all the same, why ain’t our fates that way;  
Spending all our lives on plates, even then we differ great.  
You look down to see to the dark, but all that we have is the dark;  
You bathe in the warmth and the Sun, we never once knew of the Sun.  
When you look up what do you see, the view above is evergreen;  
Our eyes though are not as lucky, we see nothing but dried, brown twigs.  
You live amongst the leaves, we share life with the roots;  
On this tree we call home, a cycle never broke.”_

_“… On the sacred tree that supports all life, seemingly immortal beings lived. They neither age nor die, living for as long as the world is alive. With the special abilities they hold, they ensure the balance of both worlds. Legend says that they were the chosen ones, tasked with the eternal responsibility of all life…”_

_“… Over decades, only a mere few had ever encountered them. According to their recounts, the guardians resembled humans in every way, allowing them to blend in without fault. But what sets them apart from humans were their ability to create portals out of thin air, allowing them to travel between the two worlds…”_

They say that time flies when you are having fun, but they never mentioned about how obsession too can achieve this. It hadn’t even felt that long, it was as though it had just been a couple of weeks since Xukun had first came across the stranger, a couple of weeks since he set foot into the ancient library.

But in reality, half a decade had passed by while he had spent all his time buried in books that threatened to fall apart with every touch. The baby girl had just celebrated her fifth birthday a few months ago, running around the little cluster of homes as everyone congratulated her. Xukun, as he had always hoped for, now lived alone, though the circumstances with which it came to be were not what he had expected. 

He still resided in that little family home of his, but rather than him moving out, it had been his parents that had left first. Xukun knew of the way his neighbours now think of him, the unfilial son that was never at home and even now that his parents had passed, he still wouldn’t get his act together.

But the truth is he no longer could. Xukun had already wasted five years on this mystery, five important years of his youth, five years he could have spent with his parents. He couldn’t just stop now, not when he had nothing left.

However, his will was not what determined his success.

Then one day, things took a turn, because Xukun had heard a piece of news, another couple in their little cluster was expecting a baby. The baby would be due in a month, because apparently Xukun was so out of the loop with their neighbourhood he hadn’t even known of the pregnant lady walking around up till now.

The first time Xukun had encountered the stranger, who he now knew to be a guardian, had been when a baby was born. So if his deductions were right, Xukun reckoned that another guardian would show up too. So he waited.

When Xukun heard a commotion going around the little neighbourhood of theirs again, he knew the day had come. He hadn’t left the neighbourhood for weeks now, afraid that he would miss this rare opportunity. 

He had everything planned out close to perfection, if he could say so himself. Xukun could not afford to fail again, he couldn’t even imagine how much time he would have to wait for another chance to present itself in front of him. He was doing this and there was only one outcome that he could accept, he had to succeed. 

Much like how it was five years ago, Xukun watched as the little neighbourhood of his gathered around the joyous family. And much like five years ago, someone had snuck out from the crowd, painting a familiar scene in Xukun’s eyes. 

Only this time, the stranger was no longer an unfamiliar face, it’s the same guardian from before. Now that the very person that had been his primary drive all these years was right before him, Xukun found that his body had started to act as though it had a mind of its own.

As the guardian headed down the same alley and opened up a portal, Xukun sprinted up ahead, throwing himself into the beam of light. But before anything could come out of this rashness, the portal closed in on itself instantly, leaving both of them behind. 

Standing right before someone who he knew to be special, Xukun could feel the rage in him rising. He’s had enough of this mundane, lifeless world, one who’s very existence limited the possbilities of the people living on it. 

Minutes passed as the two stood a couple of feets apart, staring down each other as they observed every little movement the other made. And when the guardian made to turn, running towards a portal he was opening at the end of the alley, Xukun bolted towards it, overtaking the guardian. But just as he was almost there, the portal made an abrupt shift, sliding along the walls in the opposite direction, stopping right in front of the guardian.

The sudden change in direction caused Xukun to falter a little in his movements, not quite able to keep up with how fast the portal itself had moved. And it was how he found himself alone on the floor of the alley way mere seconds later, the sudden darkness blinding. 

He had acted wrecklessly, and that gave the guardian a chance to slip away. But he had one last bet, the guardian had to portal back to this exact spot to return to this world.

This mindless struggle dragged on for days. The guardian had tried portalling back, only to be greeted by Xukun trying to enter before he could even leave, resulting in him closing the portal immediately, separating them in the two worlds yet again. It didn’t matter how long he waited, Xukun never left the alley.

In the mean time, the guardian’s sudden disappearance hadn’t gone unnoticed. 

“Zhangjing hasn’t returned in days.” Zhengting said, having just stopped Wenjun in his way, the hand grabbing onto Wenjun’s arm tightening unconsciously, conveying his worry for his fellow guardian. 

“I noticed too, the fountain is running dry. If he doesn’t come back soon, the sacred tree is going to start collapsing. I had already asked Linkai to help track him down, I’ll let you know once we find him,” Wenjun replied, petting a hand onto Zhengting’s own.

Tracking down Zhangjing’s location, Linkai soon realised that the teleporter hadn’t left his spot for days now. Occasionally, he would attempt to portal back only to stay behind yet again. Something was definitely wrong, something was preventing him from portalling back.

With this, Zhengting set off to the location Zhangjing had last portalled from in their world. Given how Zhangjing was the only one with teleportation abilities, none of the remaining three guardians could head over to bring him back. But they all knew that Zhangjing could only portal between worlds at the very location he had last portalled from, hence that was where Zhengting had to go to get Zhangjing back.

Not knowing what sort of threat was awaiting at the alley had Zhengting feeling somewhat uneasy, what could possibly have hindered Zhangjing for so long. Despite this, Zhengting still went ahead, because if there was anything that could stop him, it definitely wouldn’t be the lack of knowledge.

As he arrived at the alley, having taken a small step forward to sneak a glance, all he saw was a figure lying in the snow. Deeming the men before him not a threat, Zhengting boldly approached him, eyes staring deep into the other person. 

Hearing the soft shuffling on the snow behind, Xukun immediately threw himself up from the pile of snow, eyes alert as his body prepared itself for yet another round. But instead of the guardian he had expected to see, he was faced with a fresh new face again. It barely took him a second for him to come to the conclusion that this had to be another guardian. And right as he made that realisation, he decided he was going to catch this one because he was done waiting out mindlessly like this anymore.

All this though, much to Xukun’s dismay didn’t come to fruition at all. Because right as Xukun was about to act, wanting to knock the newcomer and his suspicious looking cloak out, Xukun found that he couldn’t move. In an instant, shock and fear started to cloud Xukun’s mind, why couldn’t he move. Don’t talk about knocking Zhengting out, he couldn’t even move a pinky. At that moment, all he could do was to stare at the newcomer as he approached him, his heart pounding furiously as a genuine fear for his life arose.

Xukun had thought that today would be the end of his miserable life on this hopeless world, it seemed this may indeed be true. Preparing himself for the worst, Xukun calmed himself down, ready to face death head on only to see Zhengting take a seat right next to where he stood. 

“Seat,” Zhengting said, his tone flat, making it difficult for Xukun to tell what he was thinking. 

But what Xukun did realise though was that he indeed ended up seated right next to Zhengting despite how he couldn’t even move previously. But he had no intention of seating at all, Xukun had reeled his body to attack but why was he doing the complete opposite of what he had intended.

“Stop resisting, you can’t move unless I let you,” Zhengting answered Xukun’s unspoken questions as he leaned back, lying in the snow much like how Xukun had been when Zhengting first arrived.

The next time Zhangjing had tried portalling back, Zhengting was the first person he saw instead of Xukun. At that moment, he knew he was safe.

Waking up a few hours later from a sleep he had no impression of having, Xukun found himself in another completely different environment yet again. He was lying on a bed-like structure, only that it was entirely formed out of interwining vines. And upon looking around, he realised that everything around him was formed out of the same vines; the floor, the walls, even the flight of stairs located further down. 

Wanting to get up and about, to take a look around and maybe to defend himself because no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember how he ended up here, he felt a pair of hands pressing him back down onto the bed.

“Don’t get up yet, you should rest more,” a cloaked man said. Seeing him, Xukun tried to dig through his memories to figure out just who this person was but he couldn’t find any recollection of him. 

The stranger had most of his face covered by his heavy looking, black cloak. The cloak had golden embroidery lining the edges, adding a touch of life into the otherwise dull and boring cloak. Despite this, the lack of emotions in the man’s words and on his face made him seem all so unapproachable, drawing a clear line between him and the world. 

But what hammered the final nail in the coffin was his exquisite looking features that peeked out from underneath his cloak. Xukun didn’t quite know how to describe what he was feeling seeing this person’s looks, there was an obvious coldness to his appearance, emphasised even more by the out of this world beauty. But amongst it all, Xukun felt as though there was a desperation in there, a cry for affection.

“We found you unconscious in the snow so we took you in. Rest up,” the cloaked man said as he stood up, about to walk away. But just as he was about to leave, he added, “You can call me Zhengting.”

After Zhangjing had successfully returned, they brought Xukun along with them back to the sacred tree where they live. Ever since he first laid eyes on Xukun, Zhengting had read his mind, seeing all the secrets he knew and his objective of crossing over to the other world. Zhengting knew he would be trouble, they couldn’t allow all this secrets he had uncovered to get out, so they brought him back to decide what to do with him.

After much discussion, only because what they had decided wasn’t the most ethical, they decided to make Xukun forget, forget trying to cross the portal, forget all the secrets he uncovered, forget what he saw five years ago.

But they also couldn’t just let him go back home after all this, Zhengting had read his mind and found out about everything that happened this five years. If they just let him off after taking away all this memories, Xukun would be left with a five year gap in his head and absolutely no clue of how his parents left, why his neighbours despise him, how his life turned out this way.

Seeing how Xukun had no closed ones to look after him, the guardians also decided that they would keep Xukun around, let him help out with their work, under the condition that Zhengting would have to keep an eye on him at all times.

The guardians believed that there was good in Xukun, he had just been misguided. But given his past actions, putting him in an environment that is closely involved with the other world that he seeked for so strongly had its risks. Hence, Zhengting had to make sure that Xukun never tries to do anything wreckless again.

With this, Zhengting had indeed been monitoring Xukun’s thoughts and memories regularly. And this was how he soon noticed the affections the latter had for him. He could see how the thoughts and feelings Xukun had for him grow as time went by, how flustered he always gets when Zhengting was around, and how he always thought of Zhengting in a positive and loving manner.

Zhengting was aware of it all, so when Xukun finally started to act on his feelings and approach Zhengting, it didn’t take long before the two grew close.

In a blink of an eye, another five year had passed. Xukun was now thirty and an active member in their little “safeguard the world” squad. Him and Zhengting have been together for years now, loving affection blooming into a stable relationship. But the two kept things a secret, with only Zhangjing having a vague idea of what was going on. Zhengting had been to the one to suggest keeping things between them a secret, citing how he didn’t want the other guardians to view Xukun differently because of their relationship, afraid that they would be against their guardian-human relationship.

But what Zhengting didn’t let Xukun know was that the guardians cannot chase Xukun away no matter what due to the incident ten years ago. And what Zhengting feared the most was that the guardians would deem Xukun a threat because Zhengting was the only one who could watch over him but he may no longer be able to with their relationship.

The truth is, Zhengting did relax his surveillance over Xukun over the years. After getting close, he could no longer read his mind without feeling guilty for doing so. Each time he did so, he felt as though he was betraying the trust Xukun had for him, especially when he would see nothing but the love Xukun had for himself. 

But knowing the role he had to play, Zhengting couldn’t just throw away his responsibilities entirely, so he would still read Xukun’s mind, but only once a month. Besides that, he would occasionally read the thoughts Xukun had at the moment when he was around something that Zhengting thought might trigger a reaction. But Zhengting decided he would not delve into Xukun’s memories too much out of respect and the trust that Xukun had earned over the years.

But little did he know, this decision of his would cause such a big chain of reactions.

At some point in time, Xukun visited the ancient library again. As expected, he had absolutely no memories of his previous five years worth of visits. So he went around exploring this apparently new site out of curiosity. And it was also then where he discovered the traces he had left behind previously. In a book that was lying amongst many others on a desk that had clearly been abandoned for years, was a note documenting someone’s encounter with who Xukun now knew to be Zhangjing. 

The note talked about how Zhangjing showed up when a baby was born and how the guardian would portal back to the same place. The contents on this note were nothing new to Xukun who had spent five years living amongst the guardians, but what unsettled him was the familiar penmanship.

Those were his words…

But he had no memories of this incident, of visiting this library, but this coincided with the five years worth of memories he had missing. 

Clenching the piece of note in his fist, Xukun left the library.

Just as Zhengting had expected, he found Xukun next to the trenches near where they lived. Xukun always came here whenever he was feeling down, the beautiful sight always managed to brighten him up.

Like always, Zhengting sat himself next to Xukun, rest his head on the latter’s shoulders as he basked in the warmth of his lover in the midst of the pelting snow going on.

To his surprise, Xukun soon backed away from him, maintaining a distance between the two. With one look at Xukun, Zhengting knew something was wrong but before he could say anything, Xukun said accusingly, “You’re in my head now huh.”

Not quite understanding what was going on, Zhengting only continued to stare at Xukun questioningly. Xukun always knew of his ability to read minds and control them, so why was he upset about it now?

“I found this in the ancient library. I wrote it, I know I did. But I don’t remember doing so. What did you do?” saying this words hurt just as much as hearing them did but Xukun forced himself to say them. “Five years ago, you said you found me in the snow. That’s all a lie was it not? You did something to me.”

Hearing this, Zhengting finally understood what happened, and he knew he was at fault in this but he didn’t quite know what he should do now. Xukun was growing more and more aggitated by the second, Zhengting knew he had to calm him down but he can’t use his powers now, not like this. So what should he do?

Taking little steps to try and approach Xukun, Zhengting tried to get himself closer to calm down the whirlwind that was Xukun’s mind. But with every step he took, Xukun only back away even more. Noticing this, Zhengting stopped, not wanting to put Xukun in danger with the crazy snow going on.

“How does it feel seeing me fall for you so hopelessly? Was it fun seeing me being toyed around so easily? Was this all just a game for you immortals?” without warning, tears had started streaming down Xukun’s cheeks as his voice cracked with each accusation he made, tearing his own heart apart with each word.

Having his own feelings belittled, Zhengting desperately started to deny all this accusations, “No, no, no… It’s not true, I really do like you. You’re not a toy… Don’t say this…”

Then right at that moment, the snow under Zhengting’s feet slid, rushing down the edge of the land straight down the trench, causing the guardian to lose his footing as he rolled towards the trench of light.

Seeing this, Xukun’t heart clenched painfully, his mind a blank as the sudden turn of events stunned him. But while his brain had yet to react, his body flew into action as he immediately leaped to grab onto Zhengting. 

But despite his intentions, Xukun failed to stop Zhengting from falling. 

When Xukun was at the edge of the land, he might have been able to stop himself from falling had he let go of Zhengting, but he held on, despite how he could feel the way Zhengting had tried to shake away his grip.

As the two fell into the trench of light that had mesmerised Xukun ever since he was a kid, Xukun pulled Zhengting into his arms with all the strength he had. His arms only held on tighter and tighter as the blinding light stole Zhengting’s tear filled faces away from his eyes.

_“Reading your mind allowed me to know you better. I took away memories that would hurt you, but I never once changed who you are. You were misguided, but you are not evil. You are driven, you are kind. See, you are proving me right.”_

_“I never told you this but when you die, you will be reborn in the other world. Cherish this next life of yours. I hope we find each other there too.”_


	2. Chapter 2

(so this chapter is basically just a super long author's note to clear things up)

The story takes place in this alternative universe where the planet is basically split into two hemispheres whereby there are plates of land that makes up the surface of this two worlds. The whole thing is held together by a massive tree aka the sacred tree.

Since this planet doesn't spin like the earth does, one half would constantly be experiencing summer and day time while the other half is always in winter and night. Because of this, the world which the previous chapter took place in, aka the 'winter world', is always snowing very heavily and their only source of light and warmth are the trenches.

The trenches are basically the crevices between the plates of land that form the world. So the light from the 'summer world' would seep through into the 'winter world' through those crevices in the land. On the contrary, the trenches in the 'summer world' would be appear dark and cold because they too seep into this world through the trenches.

There's definitely some form of magic involved in a world like this and the main source of magic comes from the sacred tree that holds the entire world together. With this, the sacred tree is also the source of life on the planet because if the tree dies then the world will fall apart. 

The guardians are the ones to help take care of the tree and the world, to make sure that things are running smoothly. They are immortal and don't age or die of health reasons and so on. However, they can still die of unnatural death such as in the case of Zhengting when he falls into the trench. 

Each guardian has their own role and thus special abilities.

Zhangjing is the only one that can portal between the worlds because his role is to go to every newborn baby and retrieve the memories of their previous life. He is the one whose role requires him to appear among people the most hence he is the only guardian that people have reported sighting up till now. These memories will later go into the 'fountain', which will be a part of the story later on, but essentially the fountain supports the sacred tree and if it runs dry then the sacred tree collapses. 

Linkai tracks down souls. So he would basically be able to track down anyone and where they are. He doesn't do this through a person's identity but through their soul. So if he is finding person A and person A dies and reborn as person B, Linkai can still track him down because they are the same soul. This helps to facilitate Zhengjing's role because he helps to track down the babies so that Zhengjing can go to them.

Zhengting's role is basically crisis management as in the case of Xukun. He has mind reading and mind control powers but he doesn't use them on anyone who knows of the existence of the guardians. Hence, how there are still books on them. The existence of the guardians isn't common knowledge but it is not forbidden knowledge. However, when someone makes use of this knowledge in a way that disrupts the maintenance of life in their world then Zhengting would step in.

Wenjun has chlorokinesis which means he can manipulate and control vegetation. He has the most direct role in taking care of the sacred tree.

Regarding the ending of the previous chapter, when someone dies in either of the worlds, they get reborn in the other world for their next life. So basically, the total population in these two worlds is fixed. And they just move between the two worlds every time they reincarnate. Life expectancy on the 'summer world' is a lot longer and they tend to have more kids too so there tends to be more people there. While on the 'winter world' people don't live as long and they don't have that many kids so the population is super small. But all this ties in because when less people die, less people are reincarnated and thus born.

This should be it, I hope it's much clearer now. Looking forward to the next part in this series because spoiler alert, they get reincarnated.

**Author's Note:**

> first thing first! happy birthday zhengting! though this is quite angsty but i really wanted to post today so yeah. btw. life update: my exchange is cancelled so yeah stuck at home now until further notice. hope everyone is doing well, stay safe! 
> 
> about this fic/series: 3 part series with the 2nd part being the main bulk of it. 3rd part will probably be similar in length as this. this 1st part is essentially for world building and to introduce the characters, but even when i'm posting this is am still not sure if the world building is clear enough so i'll add one more chapter to this to explain things, will probably by up by next week.
> 
> thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it!


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